Chapter 170
Lunch was crowded just as everything else that day had been. Kagan's Dome had become quite popular and it seemed that everyone who had a Guild badge wanted a chance at running it. All those people had to stay somewhere and a good number of them had chosen the Guild as their place of choice.
“They're full members, don't they have enough money to stay in the city?” Aiden groused as the line moved slowly forwards.
M'redith smiled and glanced at Aiden, “Technically we have enough money to stay in the city but here we are.”
Aiden thought about that, “Sure, but we're trainees,” he said. Even as he said it he realized M'redith's point.
They had each gotten gold from the sale of the title rewarding item they had sold to Lt. Swan of the Redguard. They would each earn a share of gold from the sale of the Little Book of Unique Professions that they were planning on auctioning off that week.
They were each currently in possession of quite a bit of gold. That was nothing compared to the amount of gold Jay was earning from Kagan's Dome though. The five of them taken together represented a good amount of gold and wealth.
They didn't act like it though as they had been too busy to even consider spending it.
Aiden stayed quiet as the line moved forward and he finally was next.
Lunch was stromboli, a six inch long baked roll made out of pizza dough filled with various cheeses and meats. They each were offered a range of drinks. Glasses of cranberry-grape juice had just been set out and each of Jay's group took a frosted glass full of juice. There was no ice, but the glasses somehow kept the juice nice and cold.
“Ooo! Calzone!” Norri said with excitement and Aiden frowned as he picked through the plates until he found a chicken parmesan which he took and put on his tray. He appeared to be debating something with himself before he gave in and took a second plate, a ham and swiss cheese stromboli.
“They're not calzones,” Aiden insisted as if Norri had offended him. Jay raised an eyebrow and listened in on their argument.
Norri didn't mind being corrected and shrugged, “They're fillings wrapped in dough, what's the difference?”
Aiden scoffed as Jay put a plate of pepperoni and cheese stromboli on his tray and moved down to make room for M'redith.
“Calzone is folded in to a crescent shape. Stromboli is rolled up in to a loaf.” Aiden pointed out.
Norri shrugged as she looked about for a free table, “So they taste exactly the same? The only difference is how they're shaped?”
Aiden went to say something before he went quiet. It was more than just how they were shaped! As he gazed over the sea of tables in search of an open spot he tried to come up with another feature that set them apart but couldn't.
Norri grinned. It looked like she had won the argument. “Good talk,” she said to Aiden teasingly and he was about to respond when M'redith spoke up.
“Open table there, on the right,” she pointed out.
Aiden responded without thought, “Moving,” he said and began to lead the group through the crowd.
They wove their way through the tables full of diners and had to make way a few times for diners who had finished and were leaving. They set their trays of not-calzone down on to the open table and each sat down to eat. There was little talking and a lot of eating.
Jay's stromboli was delicious. The cooks had spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the dough before they heaped cheese on top of that, then dotted that with a sprinkling of pepperoni slices. The entire thing had then been dusted with garlic and onion powder before it was rolled in to a log and cooked up until you could smell the mix of bread, cheese, meat, and spices.
A dribble of sauce stuck to Jay's chin as he took another bite and Jay dabbed at his face with his napkin.
“Afternoon session. Anyone have any idea what they're planning?” Aiden asked as he chewed his stromboli as if he hadn't eaten in a week.
M'redith shrugged as she ate. She had picked the same stromboli that Jay had and seemed to be enjoying her meal. “No idea. They didn't mention that. If I had to guess?”
Jay's eyebrows rose and he motioned to M'redith to guess.
“If I had to guess? I would still have no idea. Come on guys! I don't know everything.” she scolded the group with a smile in between bites.
Jay shrugged, “Ok, we sort of had that one coming I guess,” he admitted with a smile.
They ate quickly, partly due to hunger and partly due to time constraints. Strangely enough even though Aiden had taken twice as much food on to his tray as the rest of the group it was him who finished his meal first.
“Done.” Aiden said as he pushed his plate an inch away from him as if it had been a competition.
“Did you even taste any of it?” Norri asked as she looked at Aiden in surprise. He had eaten a lot of food.
Aiden let out a deep breath, “It was delicious. I can't wait for dinner.”
M'redith chuckled as she chewed another bite of her stromboli.
“Time's up, we have to get going,” Aiden pointed out even though the rest of the table was still eating.
They had a simple choice – finish eating and be late or stop eating and be on time.
Aiden got up and began to collect people's trays around the table whether they were done or not.
“Hey!” yelled Norri as Aiden pulled the tray out from under her hands. “I was eating that!”
“We have to go! Class!” Aiden said and M'redith nodded in agreement.
Norri sighed and let it go. At least she wasn't hungry any more but she really would have liked to eat more. It was yummy, she thought.
Aiden walked the stack of trays and glasses over to the area for dirty dishes and dropped them off. By the time he had returned everyone at the table had gotten up and was ready to go.
“Let's get out of here,” Jay said with a smile and M'redith led the group outside and in to the open air. As they left the scent of cooked pizza dough behind them they walked along with a throng of people. The crowd moved along the path towards the building they had been running Dungeon Room in since they had started training.
They had arrived a few minutes early and rather than go straight inside they hung out under their favorite tree to talk until it was time to head inside. Someone was already waiting for them, a young man, almost boy, that looked as if he had somewhere else to be.
The boy looked at Jay's face before looking at the faces of his friends before he was sure that he had the right person. “Jay?” the boy asked even though he was sure he had the right person.
“That's me. What can I do for you?” Jay asked politely.
The boy smiled, “Message for you!” and handed Jay a paper that had been folded and sealed in such a way that once opened it would be impossible to hide that it had been opened. It was sealed twice. Once with the seal of the First K'tharkle Bank. Jay could tell that because the seal had the initials FKB along the outer edge which he recognized. The second seal was just as fancy and was dominated by a stylized letter B.
Jay guessed he knew who that would be. Before he opened it he dug in to his coin pouch and was about to give the coin to the runner when he paused and looked over at M'redith.
“Tip?” he asked simply. M'redith smiled and nodded.
“You don't have to tip him,” she said and the boy frowned when she said it.
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“Hey!” the runner said, “I like to make money too!”
M'redith continued her sentence as she peered down at the boy, “BUT, it is considered classy to do so. Those that can't afford to just don't. Those that can like to show it off. This runner has already been paid for the job though. Don't feel like he's going to starve if you don't tip him.”
Jay grinned, “Here you go,” he said and placed the coin in the boy's hand.
The runner looked up at Jay with a wide smile, “Thanks Jay!” he said and ran off before Jay could ask for the coin back.
M'redith watched the scene play out before she turned to Jay. “How much did you tip him?”
“One silver.” Jay said proudly.
M'redith laughed. “Jay, he makes coppers per delivery. You just paid him ten or twenty times more than he makes for a delivery! Remember, most people only make coppers and manage to live just fine off of it.”
Jay paused. He wasn't sure how 'fine' people were living off of just coppers but shrugged noncommittally, “I've got hundreds of silver. I can afford to part with one. That kid will eat like a king tonight.”
M'redith nodded, “That is true. I guess it all comes down to who you want to be. Financially conservative? A free spender? You should figure out why you give people money.”
Aiden laughed, “Because people are a lot less helpful if you don't give them money I would wager.”
M'redith shook her head, “No, really, I mean it. Why did you give that boy a silver? To pay for his services? To make yourself feel good? To show off your wealth? What was your reasoning?”
Jay sighed, “I don't know, really. I thought I was supposed to tip and then I wanted to be gracious – a copper seemed too little and a gold too much so I settled on a silver.”
M'redith smiled, “So you didn't really have a plan – you just spent money because you thought you were supposed to?”
Jay smiled sheepishly, “You make it sound bad when you phrase it like that though.”
Norri laughed, “It sounds bad because it is bad.”
Aiden motioned towards Jay, “Thank the Goddess you have Boland or you'd be broke by now.”
That reminded Jay of the note he was holding, “Speaking of which,” he said as he broke the seals and unfolded the letter.
Jay, the Church has reached out with your tentative numbers. These are all rough estimates rounded down to the nearest gold – safer that way. Rounding up just counts money you don't have!
Jay turned to Aiden and laughed, “You were right, I'm broke!”
The group looked concerned and M'redith looked puzzled, “How is that possible?”
Jay shrugged, “Let's see,” he said as he found his place once again and began reading.
Your first day, yesterday, you managed to earn just enough to pay for the changes you implemented. You are now pretty much broke. I would not worry too much about that however because today is another day!
The Church has decided that your dungeon will be available from 8am to Midnight seven days a week. The 8 hours in between will be used to clean the area as having hundreds of people tromp through can create quite a mess. It will also allow Guards to have a break in between shifts.
Headcounts have shown that once you repaired the entry and exit setups groups were able to enter in 15 seconds or less. Often less, but we'll go with 15, a conservative number. This averages out to four groups every minute at one silver per person for a total of 20 silver per minute. This extrapolates to 12 gold per hour. The dungeon will be open for 16 hours per day, creating a daily gross income of 192 gold.
Out of that 192 gold 30% is deducted for Church, City, and Guild taxes resulting in a net profit of 134 gold per day.
So don't worry that you're broke – by the end of today you will be rich again so long as nothing interferes with the dungeon! By the time you get this note you will probably already have made a few tens of gold!
After midnight tonight we estimate that your account will be at roughly 134 gold. Per your instructions, as a one time transfer, 100 of that gold will be siphoned off in to a savings account which will result in a final amount of 34 gold liquid for your use. By midnight tomorrow night your available funds should be 168 gold.
I have already set someone to work on your desire to purchase land which may then be used in the construction of a compound for the use of your Guild registered group. You should be aware that current prices for multi-acre plots are not in the hundreds of gold but the thousands. This amount is still well within your price range so long as you are willing to save up for a few months.
I am in the process of gathering a few people who will act as the team in charge of any future construction. The buildings must not only be constructed but also power must be provided along with running water – all specialty professions.
This will require the services of a general contractor, power mage, water mage, architect, and a specialty planner familiar with the construction of compounds. I will be using some gold later today to place them on retainer as well as begin the bid process for your building's floor plans along with the arrangement of your compound.
Those plans will all be approved by you before any purchases or construction.
Should any of this not meet with your approval you should notify me immediately by runner along with any requested instructions. Unless otherwise directed I will proceed as described above.
Sincerely, Boland, FKB
The note was long and took up multiple pages. Jay grinned. It was all good news.
“If you're here for class you're about to be late!” someone shouted loudly from the direction of the building's entryway.
“Well?” Aiden asked, “What did it say?”
Jay hadn't read it out loud and he summed it up, “It says a lot but mostly its an estimate of how much I can expect to earn per day.”
Aiden grinned, “Ooo. How much was it? Was it a lot? You can tell us. Wait. You can tell us right? There isn't some rule against it, is there?”
Jay shrugged. “It's a lot. Over 100 gold a day.”
Jay's entire group went quiet. 100 gold a day wasn't just rich, it was filthy rich.
M'redith frowned, “Don't ever repeat that in public again Jay,” she said emphatically.
Jay ducked his head, “Sorry! I thought it would be fine since we're the only ones nearby.”
M'redith shook her head. “This is ridiculous. Are you sure you read it right? That's a huge number.”
Jay passed the note over to her. She was his girlfriend, she had said so herself. If he couldn't share the note with her then he didn't know who he could share it with. He needed to trust somebody.
M'redith looked a little shocked and she folded up the note and handed it back to Jay.
“Goddess Jay. A compound? For us?” she asked as she peered over at Jay. “That's a ton of money!”
Jay shrugged and grinned, “Worth every penny to have you guys safe and sound. What else will I spend it on?”
M'redith pinched the top of her nose and shook her head. “JAY.” she said in a frustrated voice, “Upgrade stones! Better weapon. Better armor. Better clothing. Better backpack. All weather gear. Camping supplies. I could go on and on! What do you mean, what else will you spend it on?!”
The others laughed at Jay but they were already almost late. They gathered in to a tight bunch so that they could still talk as they entered the building.
“Wait, so Jay is going to build us a compound?” Aiden asked in excitement. “Will there be a restaurant?”
Jay laughed, “Aiden. I'm building us a place to live and store our stuff – I'm not building a new city.”
M'redith shook her head, “I mean, we will need a new place to stay but I had thought we would find a nice house to rent with bedrooms for all of us.”
Norri smiled, “Hold up – we're all going to live together in one house? No one told me. That sounds like fun! A big sleepover!”
M'redith laughed, “Well, not if Jay here has anything to say about it apparently.”
“I'm not doing it for no reason! I'm trying to think ahead – about a world full of Travelers. If Eden suddenly becomes home to hundreds of more Travelers then it is going to become almost impossible to find anything affordable. If we don't do this now we might not be able to later. I want to be somewhat set up by the time they arrive. If they even arrive.” Jay explained defensively.
M'redith tried to picture hundreds of Jays running around Eden and shook her head. What a mess that would be. Having a compound with a wall high enough to keep people out could come in handy should Eden suddenly become packed with powerful players.
They squeezed in to the lecture hall slash dungeon room viewing area. T'lly and Warren were already up front and appeared to be waiting for the crowd to quiet down.
“We'll talk more about this later!” M'redith hissed to the group as people quieted down and Aiden rolled his eyes.
If Jay wanted to shower them with lavish housing then Aiden wasn't going to say no. Aiden had grown up poor – he had no desire to spend his adulthood the same way.
Jay grinned to himself happily as he waited for class to start. He didn't mind waiting - he was making money just standing there.